I'm also eyeing the Gouda.. I was thinking about all the variations I used to see when I lived in Holland, like caraway seeded and nettle..and that smoking it might be fun as well! (Probably easier to just add liquid smoke, though!)

Good call! I want Fenugreek Gouda and pesto Gouda :-) I've been craving this traditional Dutch casserole where you cover steamed heads of Belgian endive in aged Gouda cheese, sprinkle breadcrumbs over the cheese and bake it so it has a crisp crust with and oozy gooey soft cheezy endive mess underneath. Serve with crumbly boiled potatoes and you're in Dutch heaven (minus the dairy cows obviously).

I just got my meltable cheddar mixed up and even straight out of the blender it is pretty tasty so I can't wait to see what it's like tomorrow! And my rejuvelac was cloudy and bubbly this morning, quinoa was shooting up halfway up the jar when I moved it. I'm going to let it hand a few more hours to make sure it's good and ready, though.

Do all of the recipes need soy yogurt? It requires a pretty long travel time for me to get to a store that sells it, so I'm just curious. Everything sounds so good!

actually, I think at least half and probably more ask for yogurt? at least that's how i felt when i was looking through it last night. but yea, miyoko has a recipe for yogurt in the book, and then once you get that mixed up, you can keep using it to make your next batch. i made some yesterday and it set up really well! i was worried it wouldn't because the recipe says to leave it for 4-8 hours and at 4 hours mine was utter liquid, so i just went to bed. i know i left mine a lot longer than i should have, but this morning it was super thick and ready to go! pretty neat--easiest yogurt recipe by far i've ever made.

xokittee

_________________Cake Maker to the Starspakupaku"Stupid society. I'm gonna go put on bikini kill."~Susie Tofu Monster"Kittee is wise. Listen to Kittee."~Aruna--> the PPKr currently known as mumbaikar

Do all of the recipes need soy yogurt? It requires a pretty long travel time for me to get to a store that sells it, so I'm just curious. Everything sounds so good!

actually, I think at least half and probably more ask for yogurt? at least that's how i felt when i was looking through it last night. but yea, miyoko has a recipe for yogurt in the book, and then once you get that mixed up, you can keep using it to make your next batch. i made some yesterday and it set up really well! i was worried it wouldn't because the recipe says to leave it for 4-8 hours and at 4 hours mine was utter liquid, so i just went to bed. i know i left mine a lot longer than i should have, but this morning it was super thick and ready to go! pretty neat--easiest yogurt recipe by far i've ever made.

xokittee

This is basically what happened to me, except I woke up in the middle of the night and freaked out and checked it. It just nice and thick, and I have two batches of cheese going. And nuts soaking for a third.

Honestly, I'm excited over the ones that just call for yogurt because using homemade makes those cheeses much less expensive than the cashew based ones!

I just tried a taste of the cashew chevre (before the final step of putting it into the fridge to chill). It's delicious! Super tangy and the perfect texture. In six hours I will be eating the hell out of it on crackers.

_________________Like the beleaguered people of sub-Saharan Africa, I'll just go to Denny's. Solidarity!-mumbles

I have the sharp cheddar culturing on my counter right now for the second day. After I was done scooping it out of my blender, I started licking the sides of the blender clean! It already tastes good. I can only imagine what it tastes like after I'm done and I've let it age a while...

It made the whole kitchen smell like cheese while I was blending, my boyfriend was kinda freaked out. haha.

Does anyone have experience with using iota and or kappa carrageenan? I was doing some molecular gastronomy experiments a while ago and I have iota and kappa. I'm not sure what type is best for this stuff? i tried to search online to see what type "regular" carrageenan is, but I couldn't find anything. I was thinking of just using half of each?

_________________I am not a troll. I am TELLING YOU THE ******GOD'S TRUTH****** AND YOU JUST DON'T WANT THE HEAR IT DO YOU?

Well, crepe, I have Iota...I ordered it before the book came so I couldn't have known. I'll keep that in mind next time I order. Something tells me my little 3 oz pouch will not last too long.

Anyway, I just came to report on the two complete (or almost complete) cheeses I have. Melting mozzarella and melting cheddar. Both were good before they were cooked, but still tasted a little like their component parts. Especially the cheddar, I could really taste nooch and miso. But after cooking, whoa. The cheddar is cooling but I was scraping it out of the pan and just eating it...until the kid came and stole my spatula.

Let me know how it goes with the Iota since I have a bag of that, too. if it works out ok, I'll use it. I just started culturing the sharp cheddar. I'm so excited! Right outta the food processor it definitely just tastes like nooch and miso. I can't wait to see what happens to it.

What did you cover your bowl with while culturing the cheese on the counter? I know it's dumb, but it doesn't say if it should be cheese cloth or plastic wrap or what? I just have it covered with some parchment and a rubberband because i thought that plastic wrap might encourage bad bacteria, but i dunno.

_________________I am not a troll. I am TELLING YOU THE ******GOD'S TRUTH****** AND YOU JUST DON'T WANT THE HEAR IT DO YOU?

I'm planning to use agar powder since the two cheeses I have going--the sharp cheddar and the air dried cheddar say you can use it. I am having trouble staying out of the sharp cheddar bowl, because it is utterly delicious and very finger scoopable. Pretty dangerous stuff.

ijustdiedinside wrote:

What did you cover your bowl with while culturing the cheese on the counter? I know it's dumb, but it doesn't say if it should be cheese cloth or plastic wrap or what? I just have it covered with some parchment and a rubberband because i thought that plastic wrap might encourage bad bacteria, but i dunno.

I have my sharp cheddar in a bowl tuncked inside a nut cheese bag, and it's definitely been getting a thick skin on it, but it tastes great. I put the air dried cheddar in a pyrex bowl, with a small plate on top.

xokittee

_________________Cake Maker to the Starspakupaku"Stupid society. I'm gonna go put on bikini kill."~Susie Tofu Monster"Kittee is wise. Listen to Kittee."~Aruna--> the PPKr currently known as mumbaikar

Thanks, Kittee! I think my rubberbanded parchment should work well then.

I keep tasting my sharp cheddar, too! I can't wait till it's done! I've decided I'm going to put it in two molds and save one for when I get back from my vacation in a month because I'm really curious to see how it tastes after that long.

_________________I am not a troll. I am TELLING YOU THE ******GOD'S TRUTH****** AND YOU JUST DON'T WANT THE HEAR IT DO YOU?

I'm molding mine in mini loaf pans which is working nicely. I hadn't thought about the plastic...so far I've covered mine in plastic wrap and been fine, but I may change that going forward.

My full updates are as follows:

Melting mozzarella: very tasty but I need to learn to work with it. I had it on pizza and it got soft, but didn't truly "melt." I think I need to slice it thinner next time.

Melting Cheddar: so, so good. At least it was on my tofu scramble. Once more, I cut it too large, so it wasn't really a cheesy scramble as much as a scramble with random cheese chunks. Big, melty, tasty chunks of cheese. I cannot wait to make a grilled cheese for lunch.

Pub Cheddar: this is so freaking good, and it hasn't even hung out in the fridge the full 24 hours. It's beer-y and cheesy. Mine is extremely soft and spreadable, but that may be a result of my Iota Carageenan. I really want to figure out something great to make with it, but I have a feeling this one is destined to just be gobbled up with crackers...my husband seems to love it.

I should also note that I have mellow white miso, which she clearly says not to use. However, I had a large container that had not even been opened, so I couldn't justify buying a whole new tub of different miso since I rarely use the stuff. This means mine are slightly sweeter and milder than they probably would be with the brown, but I'm okay with that. I do think at some point I may try out the cheddar using red miso. I know the instructions say not to use that kind, but I could see it being good. (But I won't blame the book if it's a disaster!)

I should ahve posted an update- the cashew chevre was great out of the mold. I may have not added quite enough liquid to it because it came out pretty dense and a little dry, but it's still really good and the sharp flavor is perfect. I'm more than halfway through eating that pound already.

Oh, and I do have a fancy blender (blendtec).

_________________Like the beleaguered people of sub-Saharan Africa, I'll just go to Denny's. Solidarity!-mumbles